OSHAWA, ON – The Durham College Department of Athletics & Recreation is proud to celebrate 60 student-athletes for their academic achievements during the 2025-26 year.
 
The Bert Dejeet Memorial Award is an annual honour earned by a female and male student-athlete for having the top overall GPA among all their athletic peers at Durham College. There was a four-way tie with perfect 5.0 grade point average's as Taylor Wood (Women's Rugby & Basketball), Connor DeLuca (Men's Rugby), Evan Brown (Men's Curling) and Ripken Shaver (Men's Basketball) each finished with a 5.0 GPA.
 
In addition, three student-athletes received a CCAA Academic All-Canadian Award. Elizabeth McFarland (Women's Volleyball), Jessie Buck (Women's Volleyball) and Owen Mailhot (Golf) were honoured with the CCAA's most prestigious student-athlete award, epitomizing their mandate of recognizing excellence in academics and athletics. To achieve this honour, a student-athlete must be named to their respective conference all-star teams in a CCAA sport and achieve honours standing.
 
Six student-athletes were awarded the Academic & Athletic Excellence Award from the OCAA. This award is presented to a student-athlete in a non-CCAA sport which achieves an all-star award in their respected sport and displays excellence in academics. Recipients of this award were Camryn Wood, who earned an all-star award in women's rugby, as well as Vanessa Ng, Jessica Benz and Makayla Benz, who earned all-star awards in women's softball.

Everybody listed below was ultimately an OCAA All-Academic Award recipient. These awards are presented to full-time student-athletes that meet honours standards, having successfully completed one academic semester.
 
2025-26 Durham College Student-Athlete Awards Summary

Bert Dejeet Memorial Award - Top Overall GPA
Taylor Wood - Women's Rugby & Basketball
Connor DeLuca - Men's Rugby
Evan Brown - Men's Curling
Ripken Shaver - Men's Basketball
 
CCAA Academic All-Canadian Award
Elizabeth McFarland - Women's Volleyball
Jessie Buck - Women's Volleyball
Owen Mailhot - Golf

OCAA Academic & Athletic Excellence Award
Camryn Wood - Women's Rugby
Amber Edgerton - Women's Rugby
Vanessa Ng - Women's Softball
Jessica Benz - Women's Softball
Makayla Benz - Women's Softball
Matt Jones - Men's Baseball
 
ALL-ACADEMIC AWARDS
Golf
Owen Mailhot (Sport Management)
Sean Michalicka (Mechanical Technician - Millwright)

Women's Soccer
Breanne Cullaton (Fire Prevention Technology)
Chloe Hercia (Graphic Design)
Shelby Khan (Sport Management)
Daelynn Tulloch (General Arts and Science)
Abygale Roberts (General Arts and Science)
Kadi Sutherland (Police Foundations)
Heather Wright (Accounting - Business Transfer)

Men's Soccer
Michaiah Gale (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Techniques)
Teagan Marks (Trades Fundamentals)

Women's Softball
Jessica Benz (Horticulture Technician)
Makayla Benz (Marketing - Business)
Hannah Dykes (General Arts and Science - Forensic Psychology Transfer)
Madison Lee (Firefighter - Pre-Service Education and Training)
Olivia Marshall (Marketing - Business)
Kayley O'Brien (Sport Management)
Chelsea Oke (Sport Management) & Women's Volleyball
Emily Rowe (Police Foundations)
Vanessa Ng (Dental Assisting) & Women's Curling

Men's Baseball
Tristan DesLauriers (Carpentry and Renovation Technician)
Quintin Earle (Building Construction Technician)
Matt Jones (Firefighter - Pre-Service Education and Training_
Ryan Mattes (Human Resources Management)
Jacob Murphy (Sport Business Management)
 
Women's Rugby
Amber Edgerton (911 Emergency & Call Centre Communications)
Abby Granger (Sport Management)
Camryn Wood (Mechanical Techniques - Plumbing) & Women's Basketball
Taylor Wood (Clinical Bioinformatics) & Women's Basketball

Men's Rugby
Connor DeLuca (Electromechanical Engineering Technology)
Jacob Kennedy (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Techniques)
Gordon Lee (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Techniques)

Women's Curling
Kira Hayes (Video Production)
Mariah Laroco (Project Management)
Sadie Raymond (Trades Fundamentals)

Men's Curling
Evan Brown (Crane Operation, Rigging and Construction Techniques)

Women's Volleyball
Erin Black (Mechanical Engineering Technology)
Jessie Buck (Architectural Technology)
Maxine Felsbourg (Mechanical Technician - Millwright)
Elizabeth McFarland (Accounting - Business-Transfer)

Men's Volleyball
Ryan McGilvray (Carpentry and Renovation Technician)
Matt Paredes (Sport Management)
 
Women's Basketball
Kathy Orellana (Pre-Health Sciences)

Men's Basketball
Jayden Genereux (Finance - Business)
Ripken Shaver (Accounting - Business)
Adam Steritt (Trades Fundamentals)
 
Esports
Marcus Arias (Fitness and Health Promotion)
Donna Broadbent (Social Service Worker)
Akash Mahadevan Chulliparambil (Artificial Intelligence Analysis, Design & Implementation)
Joseph Doucette (Trades Fundamentals)
Edy Garcia (Music Business Administration)
Jared Greenwood (Culinary Management)
Aaron Kendall (Trades Fundamentals)
Earakan Kuruparan (Paramedic)
Matthew Mason (Computer Programming & Analysis)
Brandon Muller (Accounting - Business)
Santiago Rincon-Lopez (Computer Systems Technician)
Lawrence Ruiz Gomez
Valentyn Volodchenko (Computer Systems Technician)
James Zarafonitis (Advanced Law Enforcement & Investigations)

Top Overall GPA By Sport
Golf - Owen Mailhot
Women's Softball - Kayley O'Brien
Men's Baseball - Ryan Mattes
Women's Soccer - Julia Fontana
Men's Soccer - Michaiah Gale
Women's Rugby - Taylor Wood
Men's Rugby - Connor DeLuca
Women's Curling - Sadie Raymond
Men's Curling - Evan Brown
Women's Basketball - Taylor Wood
Men's Basketball - Ripken Shaver
Women's Volleyball - Erin Black
Men's Volleyball - Ryan McGilvray
Esports - Valentyn Volodchenko